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Saturday, 16 January 2016

How to Make a Felt Board

I recently had the opportunity to visit a recycle shop in Melbourne and came away with two treasures.

Just before we were about to leave with nothing, I quickly checked down the last isle, saying to my sister "Just in case I find a massive roll of blue felt". God is certainly blessing this little project of mine, and as those last words came out of my mouth, my eyes rested on... a massive roll of blue felt. Felt is rather expensive, and I have a feeling this roll is wool felt, which is even more expensive. It is good quality anyway, although slightly dusty on the ends. And blue is strangely a difficult colour to find, and I tend to need it a lot. There are only so many other colours you can use for the sky!

I have been wondering what to do with a picture frame that has had the glass broken when we moved, and now I know...

I present our 60x80cm [24"x 32"] felt board.

Blue is an ideal colour for a felt board as it can easily represent sky and water. Simply lay a piece of green felt over the lower portion to represent the ground, and cut away portions where you would like water to appear. See the example below from the Betty Lukens website, where you can buy many Biblical and non-biblical felt boards and felt board play sets.

Materials needed to make a felt board:

a large picture frame with glass removed

a piece of felt large enough to cover the back board of the picture frame

double sided tape or contact

Take the back board out of the frame.

Lay the double sided tape in rows across the board and peel the back off it, or use double sided contact. I recommend a smaller gap between the tape than I did as I did get a few bubbles.

Roll your length of felt up so that you can unroll it onto your board to minimise bunching. Trim the edges to the size of the back board after it has been attached to avoid issues with lining them up. Last, put your board back into the frame and secure it.

Done!

When playing, simply lean it against the wall. You can also use wheat bags to ensure it doesn't slip down, especially if you have floor boards or tiles rather than carpet. They can become hills or rivers or anything else you can imagine. We made a beach scene with rocks and the ocean.

I found a couple of bags of felt board pieces at an opp shop!

Since it is a picture frame, it can be hung on the wall for storage (with a new picture whenever you like).